When the specifications for the Apple TV were
released, the speculation about how long it would take for a full-fledged OS to
be run on the system began almost immediately. However, anyone estimating a
time frame of "less than two weeks" might have been labeled as
anything from "overly optimistic" to "insane."

A devoted Apple hacker named "semthex" has apparently created a
modified OSX kernel and released it to the
public. The truly amazing news is that the modified kernel is being
distributed under the terms of Apple's own Apple Public Source License,
with source code to follow.

A video has already been made and uploaded to
Google Video showcasing the (more) functional Apple TV running the Intel
build of OSX 10.4.8, and forum users are reporting various degrees of success.

The Apple TV sports rather mediocre specifications when compared to even the
Mac Mini, but as shown by other open-source projects such as Xbox Media Center, dedicated coders
have a way of squeezing every last ounce of performance out of a given
platform. With the diminutive size of the Apple TV and quiet operation, it
could make a very welcome addition to several home entertainment centers.

No word yet on whether or not the Apple TV will run Boot
Camp; but as shown by this hack, it's probably just a matter of time.

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DRM-Free Songs from EMI Available on iTunes for $1.29 in MayCUPERTINO, California—April 2, 2007—Apple® today announced that EMI Music’s entire digital catalog of music will be available for purchase DRM-free (without digital rights management) from the iTunes® Store (www.itunes.com) worldwide in May. DRM-free tracks from EMI will be offered at higher quality 256 kbps AAC encoding, resulting in audio quality indistinguishable from the original recording, for just $1.29 per song. In addition, iTunes customers will be able to easily upgrade their entire library of all previously purchased EMI content to the higher quality DRM-free versions for just 30 cents a song. iTunes will continue to offer its entire catalog, currently over five million songs, in the same versions as today—128 kbps AAC encoding with DRM—at the same price of 99 cents per song, alongside DRM-free higher quality versions when available

During a press conference on Monday, Apple chief executive Steve Jobs announced that iTunes will soon begin selling DRM-free music tracks from record label EMI and later fielded questions on the prospect of DRM-free videos, the affect of higher bit-rate tracks on future iPod capacities and more